Stephanie Fiduk poses for a photo with some of her patients aboard the Africa Mercy. â€œMy favorite part of the jobs is the babies,â€ Fiduk said. â€œI wish I could record their sounds.â€ COURTESY OF STEPHANIE FIDUK

Living a comfortable lifestyle in Orange County and working as a registered nurse at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach wasn't enough for Fountain Valley resident 27-year-old Stephanie Fiduk – she wanted more.

"I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew it was time for me to go," Fiduk said last week in her home before her next trip to Guinea. "I felt like I was created for more, and I didn't want to settle for less."

Fiduk worked as a charge and ward nurse during a five-month stint aboard the Africa Mercy, the hospital flagship of Mercy Ships, a Christian-based nonprofit group that sends hospital ships to developing nations to provide free surgical, medical and dental care.

Along with a team of more than 400 volunteers, Fiduk helped conduct 9,691 dental treatments, 602 reconstructive surgeries and 848 eye surgeries, according to Mercy Ship records.

Fiduk worked with burn patients, helping with skin grafts and reconstructive surgery. She also worked with women suffering from vesicovaginal fistula, a complication that generally is caused by childbirth. The condition causes involuntary and continuous urination, creating an odor. The women, many of whom are malnourished, are outcast to the outskirts of their towns, Fiduk said.

"VVF ladies have suffered atrocities you wouldn't even imagine," she said. "In their culture, (the women) have to ask their husbands or mothers-in-law to go to the hospital. One woman had sticks thrown at her."

Along with physical care, the Mercy Ship team also provides spiritual care as part of the healing process, she said.

"People are suffering, and Mercy Ship allows me to show them Jesus loves them," Fiduk said. "For me it has changed my view of life and my view of who God is."

Still, for every person the volunteers treat, there's a person they have to turn away, Fiduk said.

"There are a lot of problems we can't fix, and that's where the hope of Jesus comes in. We try to hold on to that," she said.

Fiduk grew up in Fountain Valley and graduated from Fountain Valley High School before obtaining her associate degree in nursing at Golden West College.

Her mother, Nancy, a nurse practitioner for nearly 30 years, admits pushing her daughter from an early age to becoming a nurse, but backed off until Fiduk made the decision later in high school, she said.

"I knew when she was 2 years old she would make a great nurse. She was always interested in what the doctors and nurses were doing," Fiduk's mother said.

Fiduk returned from Togo in July for a respite at home before her next assignment.

"She still left her dirty dishes in the den," Nancy Fiduk said with a laugh. "But when she was cleaning out the fridge, throwing out the old food, she said, 'This makes me really sad. In Togo they don't waste anything.' I definitely see an awareness and an appreciation in her for what we have here."

Stephanie Fiduk lived with five other volunteers in a small cabin aboard the ship, sleeping on bunk beds. She received no salary and relied on donations of friends and family who helped sponsor her crew fees of about $680 a month, which don't include the cost of travel, she said.

Since her living quarters were one door away from the hospital ward, it was easy to become close to patients, she said.

"Especially the burn patients who stay the longest, because their wounds are so delicate and it takes time for their new skin to heal," Fiduk said. "The last day was sad. (The children) hugged us so tight around our necks."

On Saturday, Fiduk hugged her parents goodbye as she boarded a plane at LAX for the first of a series of flights that would take her back to a hospital ship, this time in Conakry, Guinea, for a 10-month stay. Her work aboard Africa Mercy inspired her to apply for a position in the vesicovaginal fistula ward, where she will serve as team leader.

"There's so much you can do here, too," Fiduk said. "Not everyone is in a station in life to up and go to Africa. I've been blessed."

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